MEASURING
24. Uniform results in cookery depend on accurate measurement. Of course, there are some cooks--and good ones, too--who claim that they do not measure, but as a matter of fact they have, through long experience, developed a judgment, or "sense," of measurement, which amounts to the same thing as if they actually did measure. Still, even these cooks cannot be absolutely sure of securing as satisfactory results time after time as are likely to follow the employment of a more accurate method. Therefore, to secure the best results, every kitchen should be supplied with the proper measuring utensils, which are scales, a measuring cup, and a set of measuring spoons, or a standard tablespoon and a standard teaspoon.
25. SCALES.--In Fig. 7 is shown the type of scales generally included in the kitchen equipment. The material to be weighed is placed on the platform at the top, and the weight of it is indicated on the dial by a pointer, or hand. Sometimes these scales are provided with a scoop in which loose materials may be placed in weighing. Such scales furnish a correct means not only of measuring materials, but of verifying the weights of foods from the market, the butcher shop, or the grocery. To use them properly, the housewife should learn to balance them exactly, and when she is weighing articles she should always allow for the weight of the container or receptacle, even if it is only the paper that holds the food.
26. MEASURING CUPS.--Weighing the articles called for in a recipe is often a less convenient method than measuring; therefore, in the preparation of foods, measuring is more often resorted to than weighing. As accuracy in measurement is productive of the best results, it is necessary that all measures be as accurate and definite as possible. For measuring the ingredients called for in recipes, use is generally made of a measuring cup like that shown in Fig. 8. Such a cup is designed to hold 2 gills, or 1/2 pint, and it is marked to indicate thirds and quarters, so that it may be used for recipes of all kinds. If a liquid is to be measured with such a cup, it should be filled to the brim, but if dry material is to be measured with it, the material should be heaped up in the cup with a spoon and then scraped level with a knife, in the manner shown in Fig. 9. In case fractions or parts of a cup are to be measured, the cup should be placed level and stationary and then filled evenly to the mark indicated on the cup itself.
27. Many times it will be found more convenient to measure dry materials with a spoon. This can be done with accuracy if it is remembered that 16 tablespoonfuls make 1 cup, or 1/2 pint; 12 tablespoonfuls, 3/4 cup; 8 tablespoonfuls, 1/2 cup; and 4 tablespoonfuls, 1/4 cup. If no measuring cup like the one just described is at hand, one that will hold 16 level tablespoonfuls of dry material may be selected from the kitchen supply of dishes. Such a cup, however, cannot be used successfully in measuring a half, thirds, or fourths; for such measurements it will be better to use a spoon.
As a rule, it will be found very convenient to have two measuring cups of standard size, one for measuring dry ingredients and the other for measuring moist or wet ones. If it is impossible to have more than one, the dry materials should be measured first in working out a recipe, and the fats and liquids afterwards. Whatever plan of measuring is followed, however, it should always be remembered that recipes are written for the definite quantities indicated and mean standard, not approximate, cupfuls, tablespoonfuls, and teaspoonfuls.
28. MEASURING SPOONS.--In addition to a measuring cup or two, a set of measuring spoons will be found extremely convenient in a kitchen. However, if it is impossible to obtain such a set, a teaspoon and a tablespoon of standard size will answer for measuring purposes. Three level teaspoonfuls are equal to 1 tablespoonful. When a spoon is used, it is heaped with the dry material and then leveled with a knife, in the manner shown in Fig. 10 (a). If 1/2 spoonful is desired, it is leveled first, as indicated in (a), and then marked through the center with a knife and half of its contents pushed off, as shown in (b). Fourths and eighths are measured in the same way, as is indicated in Fig. 11 (a), but thirds are measured across the bowl of the spoon, as in (b).